CHAPTER EIGHT

WILLIAM RICHARD QUESTED'S CHILDREN

FLORENCE MARGARET AND THE HESOM FAMILY

Florence Margaret (007) was the elder daughter of William Richard Quested and his wife Gertrude.  Florence was born at St Georges Street, Durban, on 15th August 1875 and baptised when she was nearly ten years old, at St James church, Isipingo, on 13th July 1885.

She was educated at the church school at Isipingo and later as a boarder at the convent school in Smith Street, Durban.  This school no longer exists.

About a year after moving to Dundee with her parents, when she was about 20 years old, Florence married Newbold Francis Hesom (008) on 20th April 1895.  Newbold was generally known as Boley.  He was about a year older than Florence and was one of six children of Robert Hesom who had been a butcher at number 10 Longmarket Street, Pietermaritzburg.  Besides being a butcher, Robert Hesom also owned the farm Winstone in the Helpmekaar district.  Boley had three brothers but one, Robert, died young in an accident.  The others were Walter and Owen.  There were also two sisters.

Robert Hesom had married Mary Ann Newbold, which accounted for Florence's husband's unusual Christian name.  Mary Ann Hesom died on 26th February 1881 and Robert Hesom died of sunstroke a year or two later leaving behind three young sons and two daughters.  These children were all adopted by their uncle, George Thomas Hesom, who was also in the butchery trade, having joined his brother in the business in 1882.  Before that he had spent some years trading throughout Zululand and Swaziland and had also lived in the Vryheid and Biggarsburg areas before settling in Pietermaritzburg.

George Hesom was a keen businessman and eventually owned four butchers shops.  He used to tender for Government requirements and, for example, in 1887 had contracts to supply the Central Gaol and the Lunatic Asylum with fresh beef, best quality, at 3½d  a pound and best quality mutton at 5½d a pound, while beef for Africans was supplied at 2d a pound.  George Hesom retired in 1897 having handed over his shops to his son and two of his nephews, Walter and Owen.  He served on the Town Council from 1908 to 1910 and he died in 1920.

After going to school and growing up in Pietermaritzburg, Boley Hesom took up the trade of bricklaying and he continued in this capacity until his marriage in 1895.  Then he went into farming at Corby Rock, Malonjeni.  He also farmed Winstone property, a quit rent farm of 3,937 acres which had earlier belonged to his father.  He had another farm known as Helenafontein (Helena), about eight miles from Dundee.  This he rented to his father-in-law for some time after the Anglo-Boer war.

From this farm the family saw something of the fighting when the Boers invaded the area in 1899.  The family left Helenafontein by ox-wagon and travelled to Winstone where Florence's son Lance was born on arrival.  It was some months before it was safe to return home.

Boley was apparently a good shot with a rifle and records show that he took part in a number of shooting competitions in the years after the Anglo-Boer war.

From about 1902 onwards Boley and Florence lived at their Helenafontein farm, the name of which was later changed to Helena.  They remained there for many years running a large herd of cattle and flocks of sheep.

Florence had seven children:

Ainslie Robert (009)  Born 1897.  Married Ceciley Elizabeth Hartwell in 1926.  Farmed at Corby Rock, Malonjeni.

Gertrude Florence Annette (017) Born 1898, married Edward Sweeney.(known as Girlie)

Lancelot  (022)   Born 1899.

Clarice (023)   Born 1901, married R.C. Thomson, died 1968.

Vaughn Francis (025)  Born 1903, married Marjorie McCurrack..

Evelyn Mary (029)  Born 1906, married Robert Samuel  Marshall.  Evelyn died at Newcastle on 24th September 1979.

Valerie Renee (033)  Married J.P. Roux.

He died on 25 August 1939 at 15 Thornton Avenue, Rossburgh, at the age of about 65, but Florence lived to a good old age, dying at the Dundee Hospital on 2nd August 1968 13 days before her 93rd birthday.

 

 WILLIAM RICHARD QUESTED'S FAMILY

WILLIAM EVERARD QUESTED

 
William Everard (037)(Dad), generally known as Ardy, was the elder son of Richard and Gertrude Quested, and was a grandson of William Quested.

He was born at Isipingo on 15th June 1877.  When old enough to go to school, he attended the St James Church school in the village but by the time he started there, his maternal grandfather, Edmund Pugh, had retired from teaching and Ardy's teacher was the Reverend J.H. Taylor.

As a teenage boy, living in the farmhouse at the Delta Sugar Estate, he saw at least one of the terrific floods which inundated the area from time to time.  It is on record that he built himself a small boat, which he probably used on the river and lagoon in normal time, but when one abnormal flood occurred, which resulted in all the cane fields on the flat lands for miles around being covered with several feet of water, he rowed his boat straight over the submerged sugar cane from the Delta farm at Isipingo Bluff to the village at the Isipingo railway station, a distance of some miles.  An interesting and exciting experience for a young boy and probably one he never forgot.

Ardy was a venturesome youth.  On one occasion he and his sister Florrie found a large python which had swallowed a buck and they regarded this as something very interesting to watch.  For several days they spent hours studying this creature until their Indian ayah followed them to see what was going on and then reported them to their parents.  Ardy's  father went out and shot the python.  After skinning it he boiled the carcass, rendering down the fat which he sold to Africans at 6d a portion, this fat apparently being considered to have medicinal properties, especially as a remedy for rheumatism.

At some other time Ardy and Florrie found another python a bit smaller than the first.  They dragged this home, Ardy pulling on a rope fastened around the snake's neck and Florrie whipping the python's tail every time the creature's tail hooks caught up in a tuft of grass.  They kept this python in a box, feeding it on birds, rats and mice, etc., until it got too big when their father killed and got rid of it.

Between them Ardy and Florrie once caught a young eagle which they kept for some time until it became too big for them to handle with safety.  Then they had to let the bird go free.

After leaving school, Ardy assisted his father on the sugar estate but when the family left Isipingo and moved upcountry to the Dundee area in 1894, he was apprenticed as a farrier at the St Georges Colliery at Hattingspruit.

Ardy grew up to be a slightly-built young man, not very tall but wiry and energetic.  He had learned to become a good swimmer, was a first-class horseman, an all-round sportsman and athlete.  He became a trooper in the Natal Carbineers and when the Anglo-Boer war came along, he served with the Carbineers in Ladysmith during the siege of the town, where the regiment earned high praise for their conduct in sorties against the enemy.

At the end of hostilities in Natal Ardy returned to the St Georges Colliery and was appointed screens foreman.  He also assisted his father in his farming operations and continued in this dual capacity until about 1914 or 1915 when he was appointed East Coast Fever officer in the Veterinary Services at Louwsburg, about 40 miles from Vryheid and 16 miles from Pongola.  This appointment he held until about 1922.

On 17th July 1917, Ardy married Ciceley Natalia Cunningham at St Peter's church, Vryheid.  Ciceley was born on 22nd March 1892, the daughter of a dentist, J.P. Grey Cunningham.  Her family lived in Princess Street, Ladysmith and Ciceley, with her parents and two brothers were there during the siege of the town when her future husband was doing his duty with the Natal Carbineers.

Ciceley had trained as a schoolteacher and was working as a governess when Ardy met her.

Ardy and his family left Louwsburg about 1922 and moved to the north coast of Natal where Ardy had another post in the Veterinary Department until about 1928 when a move was made to Powerscourt in the district formerly known as Beaumont and now called Eston.  The family lived there in the Klip Spruit farmhouse for about 13 year while Ardy worked as a Dip Inspector for the district.

Ardy and Ciceley had two daughters, Grey and Cynthia.  Grey (039) was born on 31st January 1921 in Dundee.  Grey married Alan R. McIntyre.  Alan was born on 8th March 1911.  Grey had two sons and a daughter:

Dareth (041) Born 12th September 1948.  Unmarried.

John  (042) Born 21st September 1950.  Married Virginia Hedley and have two daughters, Kate and Laura.

Gillian. (043) Born 15th May 1955.  Married Terry Smith and have two daughters, Nicola and Debby.

Cynthia (050), who was born in Malvern on 7 September 1925.  Cynthia married Carol Edward Siedle (051), on 21st July 1951.  Carol was born on 20th September 1924.  Cynthia had two sons and a daughter:

Kevin Charles Siedle (052) Born 12th February 1953, unmarried.

Lance Vivian Siedle (053)  Born 2nd July 1955.  Married Barbara Martin in June 1985 and divorced in 990. Barbara had one child - Grant Richard.  Married Carol Fulton, nee Arnold, in February 1996.  Carol has two children by her previous marriage, Warren  and Tarryn.

Brenda Carol Siedle (060) Born 19th July 1961, unmarried.

 
Ardy's last job was working for the Bantu Affairs Department in Durban where his fluent Zulu proved very useful.  The family lived at 133 Davenport Road in Durban after Ardy's retirement because of ill health, he spent some of his time fashioning a wooden model of an early type of sugar mill.  This model is now in the possession of the Sugar Research Institute at the University of Natal.

Ardy died in Durban on 16th April 1962 at the age of 84, a couple of months before what would have been his 85th birthday.  He was cremated on 18th April 1962.

Ciceley then lived quietly, spending some of her time at an old peoples home when she was not staying with one or the other of her two daughters.  Ciceley died in Durban on 13th July 1977 aged 87 years.

 

 WILLIAM RICHARD QUESTED'S CHILDREN

CLARRISA GERTRUDE AND THE LLOYD FAMILY

 
Clarrisa Gertrude (061), generally known as Clarice, was the second daughter of William and Gertrude Quested.  She was born at the Delta Estate farmhouse at Isipingo on 15th April 1883, and baptised at St James church on the same occasion as her sister Florence on 13th July 1885.

It is likely that she attended the church school at Isipingo for a time, before the family moved to the Dundee district and then, it is believed, she completed her schooling as a boarder at the Ladies College in Durban.

In March 1907, when she was approaching her 23rd birthday, Clarice married Dr John (Jack) Allden Lloyd, who was the son of a missionary and who was born in China, where his father had assisted in translating the Bible into the Chinese languages.  

Clarice's wedding took place in the St Georges Colliery Hall at Hattingspruit, about 10 miles from Dundee.  

Dr Lloyd (062), M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., had travelled from Britain to Natal working his way as a ship's doctor.  He was surgeon and medical practitioner at Hattingspruit for a number of years where he was also lay preacher.  He used to conduct Sunday services at the St George's Colliery Hall in the early 1900's.  Later, he moved to Dundee where he practised as district surgeon for many more years.  He was an extremely well liked doctor and a popular personality in the Dundee community.

Clarice had four children:

Mervyn Allden (063)  Born 23rd January 1908.          

Neville Llewellyn (079)  Born 29th December 1909.

Marjorie Julia (118)       Born 7th July 1914.

Desmond John Allden (142) Born 21st August 1917.

 

Clarice (061) lived in the Hattingspruit and Dundee districts all her married life but after her husband's death in 1951 she moved to Durban where she lived with her brother Ardy and sister-in-law Ciceley.  She died in Durban on 27th May 1954 at the age of 71 and was buried in Dundee alongside her husband.

Mervyn Allden Lloyd followed in his father's footsteps and became a doctor.  He started his medical practice in Paulpietersburg after serving in the armed forces during the 1939-1945 war.  Later, he joined his father in practice in Dundee.  He became district surgeon and was appointed chairman of the Local Health Committee.  He was Honorary Medical Superintendent of the Swedish Mission Betania hospital for some 30 years and was mayor of Dundee for the years 1961-1965.

Mervyn married twice, first to Violet Medway, by whom he had three children, David, Elwyn and Mervyn.  After the death of Violet, Mervyn married Maria who was matron of the Betania Hospital.

Dr Mervyn Lloyd died on 13th March 1976 aged 68 and after the  funeral service at the St James Anglican church was buried in the local cemetery.

Neville Llewellyn Lloyd became a farmer.  He married Olive Payne and they had four children, Julie, Rosemary, John and Tene.

After many years of farming at Eversley near Glencoe Neville eventually retired and his last days were spent at No. 4 Floral Wood Flats at Hillcrest.   He died on 26th February 1979 and was cremated in Durban on the following day.

Marjorie Julia Lloyd married a schoolmaster, Henry Lester Attridge, who for a number of years was headmaster of Harward High School for Boys in Pietermaritzburg.  He died on 15th May 1971.  Marjorie married again on 3rd March 1979, her second husband being Oliver Odell.

Desmond Lloyd became a pharmacist after leaving university in Pietermaritzburg and lived for a long time at Hilton but now lives at Karkloof in the Howick district.

 

WILLIAM RICHARD QUESTED'S CHILDREN

STANLEY GLOYNE QUESTED

 
Stanley Gloyne Quested (145) was born at the Delta Estate farmhouse, Isipingo, on 24th May 1892 and was the second son of William Richard Quested (005), and his wife Gertrude Matilda.  He was the youngest child of the family.

When Stanley was about two years old the family left Isipingo and moved up-country to Dundee where he later went to school. In 1909 he was apprenticed in the mechanical workshops of the St George's Colliery at Hattingspruit.  Here he remained until 1914, having by this time completed his apprenticeship and become a mechanical fitter at the time.

Stanley had joined the Natal Carbineers as a trooper in 1912 and had become a good marksman with the rifle.  In later years he claimed that as a young man he could kill a blowfly on a target 200 yards away.  It would seem he must have had very good eyesight.  The fact that he was a good shot no doubt stood him in good stead when war broke out in 1914 when he served with the Natal Carbineers in the German South West Africa campaign.

When the fighting in this campaign ended he volunteered to go overseas to Britain to work in a munitions factory but his friends pointed out that by doing this he stood a very good chance of being killed in bombing raids by German aircraft, whereas if he went with them to East Africa in the South African forces he would enjoy unlimited opportunities of shooting game animals as well as Germans.  This argument convinced him and decided upon the latter course.

He joined the 8th South Africa Horse Regiment and sailed for East Africa, landing at Kilindini harbour, Mombasa.  He served in the campaign against the Germans in Tanganyika, traversing the country from the coast to the great lakes in the west.

Stanley's cousin, William Thomas Quested (210), was an officer in the same regiment, and although they did not see a great deal of each other they sometimes met of an evening around a camp fire in the bush.

In the East African campaign, one of the main problems in the field was the proper feeding of the troops.  A great deal of ill health resulted from poor feeding, leaving the men susceptible to attack by many kinds of illness.  Dysentery and fever were prevalent and veldt sores caused by tick bites were common.  Towards the end of hostilities in Tanganyika, after a number of bouts of malaria, Stanley developed blackwater fever so badly that he was invalided back to South Africa, reaching Durban just before the 1918 armistice which ended the war.

On the advice of his doctor, Dr Lloyd (062), (his brother-in-law) Stanley then took up an open air life, farming in the Dundee and the Winterton districts for some 40 years.  He farmed at Beaucamp and at Malonjeni until the 1930's before moving to the Winterton area.

Stanley married Enid Zillah Calderwell, daughter of a farmer.

Enid had two daughters:

Alyson (147) Married Frederick Bentley from the York/New  Hanover area. They had two children, Robert and Myrtle.                                          

Hazel (159) Married Eric V Ryley.  They had three children, Colleen (161), Pamela (165) and Gary (167).

When they eventually left the Winterton area, Stanley and Enid lived in Pinetown for a while but deciding after some time that they did not care for suburban life, they departed from there to the Babanango district where Stanley took over the management of a farm for a year or two.  Retiring at last, they then lived quietly for some years at Southport Extension on the Natal South Coast.

Stanley died on 6th July 1971 and was buried at the Marburg cemetery two days later.  He was in his 80th year.

Enid died on 28th March 1976 and was also buried at the Marburg cemetery.